Bun in the Bakery
by Crystal Dawn
Summary: Orihime's finally achieved her dream of opening her own bakery! There's only one snag - she just found out she's pregnant.
1. Chapter 1: Week Three

**Title:** Bun in the Bakery, Chapter One - Week Three  
**Warnings:** het (IchiHime), pregnancy  
**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. This will probably (never) be updated weekly, until I eventually drop it like every other project ever (this is short, so this is a joke. Probably). Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

**Author's Note:** So this was mostly done on a dare from a friend who linked me to some really bad pregnancy fic, and the idea was so cute that I couldn't help but write it. You know how it is. Hopefully this won't take away from my other fics. Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Orihime stared expectantly at the little plastic stick between her fingers.

The box had said to wait a minimum of two minutes and one had already gone by. As she watched the window with the blue line closely, her hand shook almost imperceptibly. Her heart was in her throat and she could swear a bead of sweat had just trickled down her temple.

She swallowed, focusing intently on the little window and turned the problem that had been on her mind for the past four days over in her mind again. Her period was rarely late, and if it was, it was only by a day or two. And ever since she and Ichigo had gotten married four years ago, she had been very careful to keep track of her ovulation, what days were safe and what weren't. She even had a little day planner to keep track of it and everything! And they were always very careful to work around her schedule. But she was now five days late and counting, and it simply didn't make any sense.

Finally, as the last seconds ticked away, Orihime squeaked in surprise and dismay. A second blue line had appeared. She was in fact pregnant.

A million thoughts exploded inside her head at once. The first were naturally about Ichigo; while she was sure he'd be thrilled, this wasn't what they'd planned at all. He was only twenty-six, and she was still three weeks from her birthday. When they'd gotten married, they'd agreed to wait for children until they were financially stable; Orihime had figured that would be sometime around thirty. Then they could wait five years and have a second baby! Even knowing that, though, this all seemed so sudden and soon to her.

And while both of them made good money so far, wouldn't this stretch their budget more than was comfortable? Ichigo's job at a local magazine had been steady, even if it hadn't always brought in that much; he'd kept them both afloat while Orihime had worked her way up at a local bakery, before finally scraping up the experience and the funds to open her own. Even then, she'd needed a sizable loan to get started. That had only been six months ago. And sure she had a great staff with Yuzu as her assistant manager and a few reliable cooks underneath them, but a fledgling business needed full-time attention to make sure it succeeded.

Just like a baby, actually.

The big difference was, though, that if she made mistakes in raising a baby, she could just keep trying. If her bakery floundered, it would be substantially more expensive than hiring a tutor or giving more love where it was needed. Children, after all, were receptive human beings that were capable of forgiving most minor parental mistakes; businesses were much more unforgiving in that regard.

Orihime took a deep breath to calm herself. This was nothing to panic over, right? Both she and Ichigo wanted a child (or more accurately, two or three), they were somewhat financially stable, and they were both mature enough to handle a baby, right? The idea of a baby between the two of them almost melted her heart right then and there. And then she remembered how much care and attention babies require and it almost sent her right back into another panic.

She went back and forth like this for a good twenty minutes, all while staring at the little plastic stick in her hand and sitting on the tile floor of their apartment's bathroom. Finally, after she'd nearly had her seventeenth freak out, her husband's voice broke her from her stupor.

"Honey, are you done yet? I _really_ have to pee!"

Well, Ichigo was never known to be delicate with things like that.

"J-Just a second, dear!" she called, trying to mask her nervousness. She just _couldn't_ tell him yet. What if the test was wrong? She knew little about these things, but did realize she needed to have it confirmed with a doctor before they could be sure. And it would make sense, wouldn't it? If they were carefully avoiding her fertile days, she shouldn't be pregnant, right?

Days -- the day planner! Yes, she should check just one more time to be sure! Now she just had to get to the dresser in the bedroom to check it...

She rose from the floor, clutching the little plastic stick in her hand and steeling herself, and peeked out the bathroom door. She glanced both ways and upon seeing the coast was clear started out of the bathroom. Before she took two steps, though, her husband appeared, causing her to freeze. She stared at him with wide-eyed fright as he passed right by her on his way into the bathroom.

"I-It's all yours, Ichigo-kun!" she squeaked, hoping he didn't notice. As luck would have it, he seemed pretty preoccupied with getting into the bathroom and didn't really look up. Instead, he planted a small kiss on his wife's cheek and kept moving.

"Thanks, Hime." And with that he was gone, the door snapping behind him as the sound of water hitting the toilet reached Orihime. She heaved a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping from the release of tension as she made her way to their bedroom. He hadn't noticed, which was good; she didn't know why, but the prospect of telling her husband that she was now pregnant made Orihime's heart lurch.

As the sound of the shower came though the bathroom door, Orihime made her way to the dresser in their bedroom. She opened the top drawer and riffled through it until she found her dayplanner. Flipping through it, she came to the month of August. Just as she'd remembered, the days that she was most fertile were left unmarked. With a sense of satisfaction, she almost closed it until she realized there were markings on the September pages. Of course, she'd plotted her cycle out several months in advance, but these were extra markings beyond that. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she flipped to the September page, only to find out that it had already been filled out in several places.

"The... _The pages stuck together?_"

Her voice was shrill, tinged with panic and disbelief. Taking the pen she kept in the same drawer, she transferred the marks from September back to August where they belonged. Sure enough, they'd managed to do it on every single one of her fertile days (and even twice on one!). It was no wonder she'd gotten pregnant!

Her stomach clinched and she was sure it would sink so far that it would fall to the floor at any second now. Her hand reflexively went to cover it, but upon remembering exactly what had taken up residence inside she flinched, jerking her hand away. If she touched it, that would make it real, right?

Trying to put her thoughts in order, Orihime heard the shower shut off and realized that Ichigo would be stepping out any second now. Above all else, he couldn't see her like this just yet - she had to figure out a way to tell him and she couldn't do that if he came out and saw how shaken she was.

As calmly as she could, she closed the dayplanner and put it back inside its drawer, along with the pen and the little plastic test strip. She knew that she had to get out of the apartment and do it before Ichigo saw her, but after that where was she going to go? She didn't want to see a doctor right yet; not just that, but she'd have to wait for an appointment, wouldn't she? And she was too nervous to go into work; if Yuzu saw her like this, she would worry for sure. No, there was only one place that she could possibly go right now.

"Hime? Are there any towels left?" Ichigo called down the hallway, water running off his body in little streams as he stood with his head poking out of the bathroom door. his only response was the sound of his wife's little footsteps followed by the click of the front door.

"Hime?"

* * *

Arisawa Tatsuki had just filled her water bottle and tossed her towel around her neck when she went to grab her keys and her exercise bag. This was part of her morning routine: up at six, breakfast at six-thirty, dressed by seven-fifteen, and out the door to the gym where she taught karate and kick-boxing by seven-thirty. Her first classes begun at nine, and the bus trip usually took long enough that she had just enough time to put her things away before heading to her first class.

This morning, however, her regular schedule was about to be derailed. As the frantic pounding on her door reached her ears, Tatsuki didn't even need to open it to know who it was. She could sense Orihime's presence across worlds; feeling her through the thin door of her apartment was no sweat. As she moved to open it, though, worried lines creased her brow; that knocking sounded panicked. And when she opened the door, she found a very distressed, very out-of-breath Orihime on her front stoop.

"Orihime?" she asked, her voice concerned as she reached out to touch her friend's shoulder, "What's wrong? Come in, dammit!" She pulled her busty friend across the threshold, finally seeing clearly that she had been crying.

"Is it Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked, putting an arm around Orihime's shoulder, "I already told him if he did anything to make you cry, I'd castrate him." This seemed to make Orihime even more upset; Tatsuki guessed being married to a eunuch was kind of an upsetting proposition.

"I-It's not Ichigo-kun's f-f-fault!" Orihime blubbered, "I had a stick and it's late so I thought there m-might be a mistake so I ch-checked but the pages were stuck together a-and..."

Tatsuki stared openly at her best friend's gibberish, trying to make heads or tails of it, to no avail. Orihime usually said odd things, but not quite this odd. Normally, it was like she had conversations with herself and only gave Tatsuki the notes at the end; this was more like something that you'd take medication for. In short, this wasn't Orihime's normal kind of crazy.

"Just... Hold on a second here, Orihime," she said, guiding her friend to a cushion beside her kotatsu, "Have a seat. I'll get you a glass of juice and you can tell me all about it, okay?" Orihime nodded, her bottom lip trembling as Tatsuki turned her oscillating desk fan on her to try and help cool her off.

Tatsuki rushed to grab a glass from her kitchen, fill it with juice, and bring it back to Orihime before anything else weird could happen. To her pleasant surprise, Orihime had calmed considerably by the time Tatsuki returned; she was now only occasionally sniffling and dabbing at her eyes, the hysterics having faded considerably.

"Th-Thanks, Tatsuki-chan," she said, taking the juice from her best friend, "I-I'm sorry I made you worry." Tatsuki raised an eyebrow as she plopped down beside Orihime.

"Geez, you act like you haven't left me for different worlds before," Tatsuki chided, "It'll take more than a couple tears to freak me out." Although Tatsuki did have to admit - her friend did bear even the worst of times with a big, broad smile on her face. To see her in such a state was worrisome, to say the least.

Even more worrisome was that Orihime wasn't at work right now. She loved her bakery; in fact, Tatsuki had overheard Ichigo's half-joking comments that she loved it more than him on more than one occasion. For something to keep her out of work, it had to be pretty bad, right?

Orihime looked into her juice cup guiltily, thinking about Tatsuki's comment. Sure, she'd told Tatsuki everything about her adventures years ago, but she'd always felt bad about leaving her out in the first place. But that wasn't the point right now! She had to tell her--!

"T-Tatsuki-chan," she said, swallowing thickly, "I-I think I'm pregnant."

Several emotions flooded through Tatsuki at once. Her first urge was to find Ichigo and throttle him; ever since those two had started dating, she'd had trouble reigning in her protective instincts when it came to him. Then she reminded herself that they weren't sixteen anymore and that it was perfectly fine for a married couple of four years to have a baby. Then she was momentarily side-tracked by realizing she was going to be an aunt to a very cute redheaded little boy or girl. And then she came back around to remember that Orihime had always wanted children, which made this whole situation even more bizarre.

"T-Tatsuki-chan?" she asked, forgetting her tears long enough to peer curiously at her distracted best friend.

"That's a good thing, though, isn't it?" Tatsuki finally asked, shaking off her stunned stupor, "I thought you and Ichigo wanted kids?" Orihime fretted at this observation.

"We do, but..." she began, fidgeting with her juice cup, "I-I'm not sure if we're ready. They're so much responsibility a-and what if I mess everything up? What if I can't have a baby and run my bakery at the same time? I-I'm s-so selfish, Tatsuki-chan!" Tatsuki put her hand on Orihime's back and began rubbing as her friend burst into tears again.

"Come on, Orihime," she said softly, "You're not being selfish, you're being practical. It's a big step - I don't think you'd be normal if you didn't worry at least a little." Orihime seemed to stop crying with a flurry of sniffles at this encouragement, but didn't seem entirely convinced.

"B-But... How can I be a mother a-and still run m-my bakery?" she asked, genuinely worried. Tatsuki sighed as she rubbed her back.

"Orihime," she began, purposely keeping her voice calm and soothing, "Plenty of people have children and run businesses every day. There's no reason someone as smart and amazing as you can't do it, too." Orihime seemed a little more encouraged by that.

"D-Do you really think so?" she sniffled, looking to her best friend with fresh hope. Tatsuki nodded knowingly.

"Of course I do," she said confidently, "Now come on. We're going to both call in to work and I'm going to take you out for the day to celebrate."

"E-Eh?" Orihime stuttered as Tatsuki pulled her off the floor, "B-But Yuzu-chan will worry a-and..." Tatsuki was already dialing her cell phone by the time she finished talking, though.

"Hey, Yuzu-chan, it's Tatsuki," she said into the phone, "Yeah, I'm great. Listen, Orihime's over at my place. Yeah, she's pretty sick. You can cover things by yourself today, right? Great! I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Yuzu-chan. Talk to you later." As she hung up, she turned to see Orihime flailing at her, waving her hands wildly and stammering in her general direction.

"What?"

"Tatsuki-chaaaaan!"

* * *

Ichigo was feeling several emotions at once right now.

First, and most consuming, was worry. His wife had left home early this morning without so much as a word to him. He'd pushed the uneasy feeling he'd had this morning out of his mind on the way to work; surely he was just being paranoid. She had probably just wanted to get to work early.

He knew Orihime loved her job. In fact, he sometimes had to show up there on his own and drag her away just to get her all to himself every once in a while. Which was why he was surprised and kind of distraught to find her missing when he stopped in to see her on his lunch break.

It wasn't like her to up and disappear like that; after the whole Hueco Mundo incident years ago, she'd been very careful to let Ichigo know where she was going most of the time. She'd even agreed to carry a cell phone, even though she had lost several of them and regularly forgot to charge it.

Even stranger, she'd called in sick to work. She hadn't seemed sick that morning, either, although Ichigo thought that might have explained why she'd taken so long in the bathroom. Besides that, though, Orihime was almost never sick, nor would she want to miss work even if she was. Ichigo had even had to remind her on a few occasions that she worked in food service and didn't want to get others sick by showing up with a bug.

So Ichigo had called out for the rest of the day from his office, opting to head straight home to see if she was there instead. Upon finding an empty apartment, he'd attempted to call the woman herself, only to find her phone had been left on the nightstand beside their bed. He even called his father's clinic to see if she hadn't went there to be seen by his father.

Which led to the next emotion coursing through Ichigo's mind: extreme annoyance.  
Once he'd asked his father if he'd seen Orihime, the old man had been so worried for his precious daughter-in-law that he'd driven right over to their apartment to wait for her. Which, of course, had led him to wail in Ichigo's ear for the past hour about how worried he was and how bereft he would be if anything had happened to his beloved Orihime-chan.

Ichigo was on the verge of simply knocking his father out and hunting Orihime down by her reiatsu. He knew this wasn't the best idea ever. He still wasn't particularly good at sensing reiatsu, and Orihime's was soft and gentle anyway. And unlike his quirky wife, he couldn't find her by smell. Still, over the years he'd become accustomed to he reiatsu and could usually find the general direction she'd gone. Besides, if he had to sit and listen to his dad's dramatics much longer, he was going to damage their apartment beyond repair.

Ichigo had just stood up and was about to move toward the door when he heard soft voices and felt Orihime's soft reiatsu coming from outside. And was that Tatsuki with her? As his wife fumbled with her keys, Ichigo nearly pulled the door off its hinges before lunging across the threshold to scoop her up in a bear hug.

"Where the hell have you been, Orihime?" he said, his voice sounding less angry than panicked, "We were worried sick!" Ichigo immediately grasped her head with both hands, threading his fingers through her hair, and kissed her forehead. As he peppered kisses on his wife's confused face, Tatsuki watched the two of them, completely nonplussed.

"Hey, lover boy," she said, her voice dripping sarcasm, "Can I come in before you ravish your wife on the doorstep?" Ichigo looked up at his childhood friend blinking for a second before releasing Orihime and letting them both into the apartment.

"S-Sorry," he said with a blush, "It's just... Do you have any idea how worried we were? We had no idea she was with you this whole time. She... was with you this whole time, right?" Orihime nodded, giving him a small smile.

"U-Uhn," she said, her voice still small and shaky, "Tatsuki-chan took me out for ice cream. I had curry and peanuts on mine." Ichigo gave her a relieved smile.

His attention was broken as his father scooped Orihime up into his arms, causing the smaller woman to squeak with surprise. The much larger Kurosaki man spun his daughter-in-law around on the spot, causing her to flail weakly.

"ORIHIME-CHAAAAN!" Isshin boomed, causing Orihime to wince, "I'm so glad you're okay! My poor son was so worried he was about to--"

"Put her down, old man!" Ichigo bellowed, his foot meeting the right side of Isshin's face. Before he could go off spinning into a wall, however, Tatsuki's foot connected with the left side.

"Stop jostling her, dammit!" she yelled. Isshin dropped like a stone, releasing his grip on his daughter-in-law. "If you're too rough with her, I'll murder you!"

Orihime was too busy fretting over Isshin to notice the confused look on her husband's face. "I-Isshin-papa!"

"D-Don't worry about me, Orihime-chan," he croaked at her, "I've lived a good life..." Tired of hearing his father, Ichigo gave him a swift kick in the ribs.

"Stop faking, old man," he grunted, "That's nowhere near enough to hurt you and you know it." Then he turned back to Tatsuki: "And what's up with you? It's not like she's made of glass or anything." Even as protective as he could be, Ichigo had learned a long time ago that his wife was generally more sturdy than she let on. She hadn't let him forget it, either.

Tatsuki simply raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Oh yeah?" she asked incredulously, "I'm pretty sure you're about to change your mind about that." Ichigo simply huffed at her before turning back to his wife.

"Honey, what is this crazy woman talking about?" The look on Orihime's face got progressively more fretful until Ichigo was worried she might burst into tears at any second.

"A-Ano, I-Ichigo-k-kun," she stammered, "I-I-I... We're g-going to..."

"She's pregnant," Tatsuki finally said with a sigh, unable to wait through Orihime's stuttering any longer.

Ichigo's expression was one of blank surprise for several seconds as he blinked dumbly at Tatsuki. He then turned to see his wife shyly chewing one of her fingernails, nervously waiting for his reaction. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Pre-Pregnant?" he repeated, getting used to the way the word felt. After a few seconds, a huge grin began to split his face. "Orihime... Why didn't you te--" Before he could finish his sentence, however, his father recovered and slammed into his chin with a fierce uppercut.

"You little punk!" Isshin bellowed, putting a protective arm around Orihime's shoulders, "You had better take responsibility and make an honest woman out of my daughter!" Ichigo glowered at his father and held his chin for a moment before getting up to return fire.

"She's your daughter-_in-law_, you old goat," Ichigo ground out, aiming a high kick right into his nose, "And I married her four years ago!" Isshin released his grip on Orihime as he went flying backwards into the (thankfully sturdy) front door. Orihime flinched, giving her husband a pleading look.

"Honey, please don't break the front door again," she said in a worried tone. At this rate, they were never going to get their security deposit back on this apartment. Ichigo grinned at her sheepishly before moving back over to stand in front of his wife.

"A baby," he said, a sense of wonder running beneath his words, "I can't believe it. Why didn't you tell me?" He took her hands and the stress seemed to melt away from her face. They stood like that for several seconds, staring at each other as though they had been separated for days, before Orihime went to answer him.

"I was afraid," she said sheepishly, "It was scary, s-so I went to tell Tatsuki-chan." Ichigo tried to disguise the look of hurt that crossed his face, opting to gather Orihime into a hug instead.

"Hime, you know you can come to me with anything," he murmured into her hair. Orihime sniffled a little, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I know," she said quietly, "I'm sorry I made you worry..."

Tatsuki, meanwhile, was watching from the sidelines, arms folded with a smug smile on her face. Isshin had finally regained his footing, opting to be silent for once instead of interrupting his son's touching moment with his wife. Tatsuki noticed, with some chagrin, that there were broad tear tracks streaming down the older man's face. He was even sniffling and mopping at them with his sleeve.

"Oi, be happy, old man," she said, her expression showing her boredom with his antics, "You're gonna be a grandpa." At this, he started crying even louder.

"I'm too young and handsome to be a grandpa!" he cried, attracting Ichigo's attention.

"Shut _up_, old man!" Ichigo barked, nearly at his breaking point, "You're going to make her feel bad! And you're at least two hundred years old, so don't give me that crap!" Isshin perked up at this admonition, as though he had genuinely forgotten his own age for a second.

"Oh," he said, a grin finally spreading across his face as well, "So I am!" Then, as though it was really only dawning on him for the first time, he rushed over to gather his son and daughter-in-law into a bear hug.

"I'm going to be a grandpa!" he exclaimed happily, bouncing an irritated Ichigo and a confused Orihime with him, "I always knew you had it in you, son!"

"You're not going to be anything but _dead_ if you don't stop bouncing her," Ichigo growled, freeing an arm just enough to sock his dad back into the front door. As for Orihime, she had learned long ago to just wait patiently for the Kurosaki men to iron out their differences. With their fists.

"Told you he'd get like that," Tatsuki remarked, looking down at Isshin's crumpled form. Having finally decided he'd had enough for one evening, Ichigo pointed in their direction, his face far from happy.

"Alright, that's enough from the peanut gallery," he barked, "If you can't act like a civilized human being, you can get out!" Secretly, this was one of Ichigo's favorite things about being an adult: the authority to kick his dad out of his apartment whenever he wanted. It always brought him a little bit of sadistic glee.

"Ehh, I have to get back home anyway," Tatsuki remarked, "And I don't think my blood sugar can handle watching you two anymore, either. C'mon, old man." Tatsuki reached down to grab the soon-to-be grandfather by his collar, pulling him along behind her towards the door.

"Tatsuki-chan, can you believe how he treats me?" he sobbed, nearly senseless that he was being dragged along behind the person to whom he was speaking, "Where did this ungrateful son come from?"

"I'd treat you the same way," she grumbled, pulling him through the door before slamming it behind them. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief at their departure; he hated feeling like he was being watched while he was being affectionate with his wife.

"Finally," he muttered, allowing his face to relax into a smile as he finally returned his gaze to Orihime. She was still giggling behind her hand at his father's antics. He couldn't understand exactly why Orihime never lost her patience with the old buzzard, but it was times like these that he was glad she didn't.

"He's going to be a good grandfather, isn't he?" she asked, eyes sparkling for the first time since she'd gotten home. Ichigo pretended to be offended.

"What about me?" he asked, feigning hurt. Orihime cocked her head at him quizzically.

"But you're too young to be a grandfather, Ichigo-kun," she said innocently, causing her husband to snort his laughter through his nose.


	2. Chapter 2: Week Six

**Title:** Bun in the Bakery - Chapter Two: Week Six  
**Warnings:** het (IchiHime), pregnancy  
**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. This will probably (never) be updated monthly, until I eventually drop it like every other project ever. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

**Authors Note:** Sorry for the long absence! I've been trying to get back to writing and have mostly been succeeding this week, although work's been killing me lately. Anyway, I think last chapter I accidentally put that this was an AU in the Warnings section – it's not, I just copied the titling format from a different fic and accidentally left 'AU' in there.

* * *

"Hime-nee-chan, you're going to be late!"

The blonde young woman at the front counter called out one more time toward the back of the small pastry shop, her pretty brown eyes scanning for signs of her absent sister-in-law.

"I'm sorry!" a voice answered back, "Is Ichigo-kun out there yet?" Another second passed before the distressed redhead appeared in the doorway leading to the kitchen area of the shop, adjusting her white skirt, earrings, and shoes.

"Uh huh," Yuzu, her younger sister-in-law responded, nodding her head, "He's outside in the cab. He's been waiting a while..."

"I'm sorry!" Orihime apologized again, this time with a bow, "It's just that I wanted to catch up on some of the dough prep and I got behind because my tummy was all topsy-turvy earlier and I guess I lost track of time thinking about what color balloons Urahara-san used and before I knew it, it was already this late!"

Poor Yuzu attempted to shush her about half-way through, all to no avail.

"Hime-nee, it's alright! Really! But if you don't get out there, Ichi-nii is liable to explode!" Orihime rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, before addressing her little sister again.

"A-Alright," she capitulated, "But will you really be alright closing up by yourself? I-I don't want to put all the work on you if you don't-"

"Hime-nee, it's fine, I promise!" Yuzu placated her, pushing her around the counter when she didn't move on her own, "You're really going to be late to your own birthday party!"

"Okay, okay," Orihime nearly whined, "Oh! Do you have the cake?" Yuzu took a large white box off the counter and placed it into Orihime's hands... before she resumed pushing her towards the door.

"Thank you, Yuzu-chan!" Orihime chirped, getting far enough ahead of the younger woman that she could turn around and give her a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be sure to save you a piece!"

"Thanks, Hime-nee," Yuzu replied, smiling slightly, "Say hello to Jinta-kun for me!" Orihime paused in the half-open doorway to turn back and smile at her sister.

"I will!" And then she was out the door and making her way towards the waiting cab. As soon as she entered the taxi, though, she was greeted by her husband's impatient face.

"What on earth took you so long?" Ichigo asked, a perturbed undertone resonating in his voice, "I was worried you were lost in the bathroom or something." Orihime pulled the door shut and then a second later, the cab began to move.

"I was finishing a few things up!" she replied, slightly worried, "I'm sorry I made you wait, Ichi-kun." As she planted a small kiss on his cheek, the creases between his brows relaxed.

"Alright, I forgive you," he sighed, leaning back against the cab's plush interior, "The baby wasn't giving you trouble again, was it?" Orihime blinked up at her husband thoughtfully.

"Nuh uh," she shook her head, "Well, maybe a little bit, earlier on. They really don't like pineapple buttercream frosting for some reason, and they're kind of stealing all my energy like the bad guys in a tokusatsu, but they've been fine other than that!" Ichigo turned his stern gaze to Orihime's still-flat stomach.

"Oi," he grunted in her belly's general direction, "Be nice to your mom. Settle down in there." Orihime couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at his comment.

"Mou, it's not their fault, Ichigo-kun," she chided him, "They're still just a little embryo, they can't help it!" This caused Ichigo to smile as well.

"An embryo, huh?" he asked, his earlier consternation having dissipated, "You've been doing research again, haven't you?" Orihime favored him with half-lidded eyes, leaning her head into his shoulder.

"Uhn! For instance, did you know the baby still looks just like a little pig or cat or fish embryo at this stage? They still have... little flippers... and... a tail..."

Ichigo looked down, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he noticed how deep her breathing had become and realized she'd fallen asleep mid-sentence. Again. For the third time this week. And it was only Tuesday.

He gave her a small smile. If it was up to him, he'd tie her to their bed for the next eight months just to make her rest, but he figured she wouldn't be as fond of the idea as he was. Instead, he rested his arm over her shoulder and planted a kiss on the crown of her head.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Orihime-chan!"

Streamers and confetti were thrown and kazoos were blown while Orihime laughed and clapped. She was surrounded by her and Ichigo's friends in the training room beneath Urahara's shop, it being the only area deemed large enough to hold their nearly three dozen friends. Urahara, or more accurately Jinta and Ururu, had decorated the cavernous room with several yards of pink, yellow, and blue crepe streamers and a sea of balloons of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. And in the middle of it all, there was a long table set with a festive paper tablecloth, cups, plates, spoons, all manner of snacks and drinks, and three cakes - one from Isshin, one from Rukia, and the one Orihime had brought from Yuzu.

"Thank you so much, everybody!" Orihime happily chirped from her position at the head of the table, hoping she could be heard all the way down at the other end, "I'm really glad you could all come out today! I know I don't usually have parties like this for my birthday, but Ichigo-kun thought it was a good idea to celebrate, since this year's special, what with my shop opening and all..." Everyone seemed attentive, eagerly waiting for the birthday girl to finish her speech.

"So thank you all very much for coming!" Orihime said happily, before holding up a big knife, "Now, who wants cake?" The table burst into happy cheers while Ichigo, who had been seated on the bench directly to Orihime's right stood to take the knife from her.

"Ah ah," he tsked when it looked like Orihime would protest, "Birthday girls don't cut their own cakes. That's their husband's job." Orihime pouted up at him from underneath the jaunty birthday hat Rangiku had forced onto her head earlier. A small chuckle rumbled around the table at Ichigo's solicitous display, causing Orihime's lower lip to tremble; were they laughing at her? On her birthday, no less? Did they not think she could cut a simple cake by herself? She owned a bakery, for goodness sake, she could handle a little old cake knife!

Before she had a chance to feel like tears were coming on, or get properly irritated at Ichigo for his transgression, her loving husband plunked down a plastic plate full of lavishly decorated birthday cake in front of her. He topped the offering with a kiss, which almost distracted Orihime from the sickening sweet smell of the frosting. Almost.

"Birthday girl gets served first," Ichigo declared with a smirk, waiting for Orihime's reaction. Instead of answering, or even smiling, she moved her watery eyes from his face, to the decadent cake, back to his face again. "Orihime? What's wrong?"

"I-It's the wrong cake," she said, breathing shallowly through her mouth and holding a napkin to cover the lower half of her face, "P-Please get the one Yuzu made for us." By this point, most of the large table had turned to watch the odd exchange between husband and wife.

For his part, Ichigo looked quite worried indeed. Finally, he nodded, a sudden awareness of the situation striking him. He quickly removed the plate and passed it to the next person down the table, who just so happened to be Tatsuki. She was shaking her head as she watched the scene, mouthing the word 'boob' under her breath.

Orihime took a cautious breath, and upon finding the air clear of the smell of frosting, slowly lowered the napkin from her face. Ichigo gave her a nervous half-smile as he placed a plain piece of cake before her, this time without frosting. Orihime returned his weak smile with one of her own.

"Thank you, sweety," she said lightly, her earlier irritation fading along with the metallic taste in her mouth.

"Umm, Orihime-chan?" Keigo asked from his place beside Tatsuki, "Your cake... doesn't have any frosting on it." Tatsuki smacked her forehead with her open palm, frustrated at Keigo's ability to state the obvious and yet still miss the point entirely. But as she glanced around the table, she noticed that most everyone else was waiting for an explanation, as well. Subsequently, she decided to let it slide without comment.

"Oh, I asked Yuzu-chan to make a piece for me that way!" Orihime happily replied, chewing a small bite slowly and thoughtfully, "The baby hates sugary frosting."

There was an almost palpable silence hanging in the air now, stretching all the way down the table to the other end of the room. As Orihime continued to chew obliviously and then took a drink of her fruit milk, Ichigo looked out at the sea of dropped jaws and wide eyes with a sigh.

"You didn't tell them, did you?" he asked her flatly. Orihime looked up at him innocently, taking another small bite of Yuzu's moist, plain cake.

"Oh, that's right!" Orihime replied, her cheerfulness from before returning as she wiped her mouth and then turned again to address their friends, "I also wanted to tell everyone today that we're having a baby!"

The air was still for another second before the silence compressed in upon itself and then exploded outwards in a spectacular fashion. The women made their way to the front of the table to crowd around Orihime while Ichigo found himself surrounded by male well-wishers.

_'So much for serving cake,'_ Ichigo thought ruefully. Before he knew it, he was being clapped celebratorily on the back by Renji and Chad simultaneously and cringing as Keigo gave him a manly man hug. And here he thought his dad's reaction was the worst it could get; in fact, the old man was currently shedding tears of pride onto a bewildered-looking Urahara's shoulder at the fresh mention of his first grandchild. Ichigo briefly wondered if his father was pregnant, too, with how fast his moods often swung.

And then came the smart-assed comments.

"Wow, Kurosaki, I never knew you had it in you!"

"Guess my advice paid off, huh?"

"Took ya long enough!"

"You greedy jerk! You're living the dream of every red-blooded male in our graduating class!"

"Asano, if you've been dreaming of knocking up my best friend, I will _beat your ass_."

"And then _I'll_ beat your ass," Ichigo appended his dear childhood friend's statement, causing the man in question to chuckle sheepishly.

"That's like double the beatings you normally get, Asano," Mizuiro helpfully chimed in, causing Keigo to visibly wilt.

"Oh come on, it's not like you haven't thought about it," he protested weakly, simply causing the shorter man to smile.

"She's still too young for me," Mizuiro added before pointing out the voluptuous, dark-skinned woman currently congratulating Orihime a small space away, "She's more my type." Ichigo suppressed a shudder... and a tension headache.

"Can we please stop talking about you guys fantasizing about my wife," Ichigo asked tersely, "And various _other_ women of my acquaintance?"

"To be fair," Chad pointed out helpfully, "It was only Keigo." Ichigo's palm met his forehead rather forcefully.

"Only one of you is enough!"

Meanwhile, a small ways away, Orihime wasn't faring much better. Instead of a ring of men, however, she was surrounded mostly by women, and the comments were decidedly less salacious.

"Congratulations! You must be so happy!"

"Wow, all this time I thought he just couldn't get it up!"

"I have never actually spoken to a pregnant human before - what's it like?"

"I knew about this two weeks ago, because the old goat can't keep his damn mouth shut. Sorry, Orihime-nee."

"We'll have to go shopping for baby clothes! And a whole new wardrobe for you, too!"

"Actually, this is the perfect opportunity for us to design a new line of maternity and children's clothing! I hope you don't mind modeling for me, Orihime-san?"

"Ishida, you aren't allowed to dress her! She'll look like a swollen ball of lace and chiffon!"

Ishida bristled at Rangiku's comment until Orihime stepped in to placate them both.

"That's very generous of you, Ishida-kun," Orihime offered happily, "And I'm sure Ichigo-kun will appreciate it. It'd save us a lot of money! And maybe Rangiku-san can help you, since she knows a lot about fashion!" While Ishida looked rightfully hesitant about the proposition (he figured the voluptuous blonde would want to design maternity lingerie, if anything), Rangiku herself looked delighted. Even if he was doubtful, there was no way to tell a beaming Orihime 'no'.

"Rangiku-san will be a great help," Nemu chimed in monotone from Ishida's side. To be honest, Orihime was a bit fuzzy as to the details of Nemu's stay in the human world, but she didn't question it too much; Nemu kept mostly to Ishida and never made trouble for anyone, so there wasn't much reason to worry over her. As a bonus, she was quite skilled with cutting and stitching, and Orihime knew that she acted as Ishida's assistant during her frequent visits. She had also apparently asked to help Ishida's father with cutting and stitching at his hospital, but had been soundly refused.

"I think so, too, Nemu-san!" Orihime answered happily. Ever since the quiet girl had begun coming around, she'd hoped to have a closer relationship with her. Now, from behind half-lidded eyes, she seemed to be examining Orihime closely.

"I have never actually observed a subject in _gravida_ before," she continued softly, "I hope you will agree to an examination." Orihime laughed sheepishly before Ishida stepped between them, hoping to defuse any potentially dangerous situations ahead of time.

"Eh, Nemu-san, I think we need to leave the examinations to the _legally_ qualified medical personnel while you're in the human world," Ishida explained gently. Orihime thought she could see a flicker of disappointment cross the stoic young woman's face, but her expression did not change.

"Ne, ne, Himeko-tan!" a limber, green-haired girl chirped from behind Orihime, drawing her attention, "Does this mean I get to be Mashiro-obaa-chan, now? Do you think that makes me sound old?"

"Eh? But aren't you already over a hundred and fifty?"

Ichigo, meanwhile, was starting to get quite annoyed at all the noise and bother. More accurately, he'd been annoyed for several minutes yet, and the situation had only been worsened by his well-meaning friends.

"Have you picked out a name yet? Ooh, your family has a naming scheme, don't they? How about Issei?"

"Keigo, we don't even know if it's a boy or not yet," Ichigo sighed, only barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes back into his head, "And no, we're not naming him Issei."

"What about Keigo, then?" He oh-so-helpfully suggested, "You have to admit that it fits!" Ichigo took a deep breath and reminded himself once again that he shouldn't punch his dear friends in the middle of Orihime's birthday party. She might start crying again, and he wasn't sure how many more times he could watch her cry over nothing before he started bawling like a baby himself.

And then suddenly, help came from the most unexpected corner. Ichigo saw their sandaled host stick his head out from behind one of the numerous, large boulders littering the training area and beckon to him with his fan. This was probably the first and only time Ichigo was relieved to see Urahara Kisuke.

"No, I am not naming my kid after you," Ichigo replied, turning back to Keigo and his other friends briefly, "Now give me a second, there's someone I need to go talk to." Ichigo made his escape before Keigo or anyone else could protest. Another minute found Ichigo behind the boulder with Urahara, but much to his consternation, they weren't alone.

In addition to the shopkeeper, they were joined by Shinji, Hiyori, and Isshin. Hiyori's expression wasn't too much different from normal, her usual scowl firmly in place. The three men, however, looked uncharacteristically serious. And considering he could count the number of times he'd seen his father this grave on one hand, Ichigo knew this was a bad sign.

"What?" Ichigo asked bluntly, crossing his arms. The looks of borderline disapproval he was getting were enough to make him defensive before the conversation had even begun.

"We just wanted to have a short word with you, Kurosaki-san," Urahara started, "About Orihime-chan's current condition." Ichigo sighed, ruffling the hair at the back of his head. A part of him had expected some kind of trouble for this, honestly.

"If you're worried about my hollow, you should all know I've had him under control for years," he groused, not meeting any of their eyes. Hiyori snorted derisively before Shinji picked up the ball.

"It's not that," the blond started, "Well, not exactly." Ichigo lifted his eyes to stare the lanky man square in the face.

"Then what is it?" he barked, sounding more tired than angry.

"Have _you_ ever seen a Vizard with a kid, baldy?" Hiyori snapped, crossing her arms over her own narrow chest. Ichigo couldn't fight the urge to snark at her.

"I just figured none of you were getting laid," he said with a shrug, "And it's not like _you'd_ have to worry about it anyway, shrimp." Sadly, the rest of his audience didn't share his sense of humor.

"It's not funny, Ichigo," Shinji picked back up, "We've never seen anything like this before. Hell, we thought you were sterile or something." Ichigo resisted the urge to hurl a rock at Shinji for that cute little remark. "No one knows what that kid is gonna come out like."

Even though Ichigo knew there was plenty of truth in that statement, he had no intention of giving Shinji the satisfaction of letting him see it.

"Judging by you and your own sisters," Urahara continued from Shinji, "He or she could be born with several different expressions of you and Orihime-san's genes. It could be a spiritually sensitive human, a full-fledged shinigami, or a regular human."

"I doubt you called me back here to talk about our children's futures in the ghost busting business," Ichigo observed dryly.

"The point is," Shinji interrupted, "that we don't know how this kid is gonna turn out specifically because of your Vizard powers. We don't know if they're hereditary or not."

"The best case scenario is that they are not," Urahara picked up again, "The worst case scenario is that the child is born a Vizard unable to control its own powers. I think you know how _that_ would turn out."

Ichigo felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped on his head, washing away the enthusiasm for this child that had been building for weeks. Instead of the protective feelings of pride and love he'd grown accustomed to feeling for the unborn baby, he was now beginning to feel a creeping, cold dread fill his stomach. Aside from the prospect of losing a child so soon after being born, there was the very real threat of what such a loss would do to Orihime. This wouldn't be like a typical stillbirth; this would be directly Ichigo's own fault and the fault of his messed up powers.

Wide-eyed, he peered around the boulder to look at Orihime. She was smiling and laughing, letting a fascinated Rukia lay a flat hand on her belly. Ichigo found he wouldn't even have the heart to discuss this with her, which made him feel like even more of an asshole. He was too weak to even warn her about it. Now _his_ stomach felt queasy.

"Alright, I get it," he croaked, his throat suddenly dry, "But what should I do about it? Look how happy she is - I can't just tell her that our children could turn out to be monsters!" If his voice sounded panicky, Ichigo immediately thought it properly reflected how he was feeling.

"That's for you two to decide," Urahara finally said, "Closer to the delivery, we should be able to get more information on it. It might resolve itself in the womb, or it might be stillborn. It might even overpower Orihime-san to the point that the pregnancy is no longer even viable." As each word fell from Urahara's mouth, Ichigo felt himself creeping closer to an unbridled rage. How could he be so clinical in this situation? This was his _child_ they were discussing, as though it were some kind of tumor. And 'viable'? What did that even mean? Was he suggesting they terminate it? Finally, he grabbed the shopkeeper's collar and pushed him against the rock, hard. Beneath his sandy blond bangs, Urahara looked thoroughly unruffled, as though he had expected this reaction.

"Stop talking about it like that!" Ichigo demanded, "We're not talking about one of your damned science experiments here, we're talking about my wife and child!" Ichigo felt a firm hand grip his shoulder and pull him back; upon realizing it was his father, his normally goofy, grinning, idiotic father, Ichigo released Urahara and backed down.

"He's not saying this stuff to hurt you, Ichigo," Isshin finally said, speaking for the first time, "He just wants to make you aware." Ichigo finally turned his face toward his father, eyes full of pain and thwarted anger.

"What... are you guys saying we should do?" Ichigo finally asked. Isshin smiled down at him.

"Just watch and wait, Ichigo," he said firmly, "I'll examine her in addition to her regular doctor's appointments. The first one should be coming up in a few weeks. I might not be an obstetrician, but I can at least sense if there's anything wrong with their reiatsu." Ichigo raised his head and gave them all a forced, weak smile.

"That sounds alright, I guess," he grudgingly grumbled. Urahara nodded curtly and one-by-one, he, Shinji, and Hiyori excused themselves from their hiding place. Only Isshin remained behind. Something told Ichigo that his father had probably disagreed with the others over this. It was probably the way he'd been screaming and hugging anyone within arm's reach only a few minutes ago, poor Captain Ukitake having been his latest victim before they'd concealed themselves behind this rock.

As Ichigo leaned back against the tall rock, Isshin plopped down to the dirt beside him with a sigh.

"I don't agree with them, you know," Isshin informed his son, "I want this baby as much as you and Orihime-chan. I don't think my first grandchild could ever be a monster." Ichigo let his lips creep up into a small smile.

"Thanks, Dad," he said sincerely. Then, after a pause: "What was it like... for you and Mom, when you had me?" Isshin actually laughed as he let his head fall back against the rock.

"We didn't even realize a shinigami in a gigai and a human could have kids, let alone what they'd be like," Isshin chuckled, "I think I worried enough for everyone, about everything from whether you'd attract hollows to whether you'd pop out with a zanpakuto in your hand." Ichigo actually laughed at that mental image.

"Feels like I might as well have!" He barked, genuinely grateful for his father's levity for once.

"But never once," Isshin continued, his voice growing soft, "Did I or your mother not want you or fear you. You _are_ your mother's son, after all, and nothing she made could be bad." Ichigo's eyes grew soft at that statement.

"Orihime's the same way," he mused. Isshin smirked up at him as he stood.

"That's a good thing," he proclaimed, clapping Ichigo on the shoulder, "Someone needs to cancel  
your badness out!" Ichigo's eye twitched.

"But you just said-!"

Before he could say anything else, though, he heard his wife squeal happily. In unison, both father and son poked their heads around the boulder to see what the commotion was. Once their eyes lighted on it, it was pretty hard to miss.

Hachi had picked Orihime up and now she was perched happily on the pink-haired giant's shoulder. She wasn't even holding on, Ichigo noted with some irritation; the only thing securing his wife to that mountain of a man's broad shoulder was his large hand on her knees. In fact, what Orihime was doing was the opposite of holding on; she was flapping her arms like a bird while Hachi chuckled his deep, rumbling laugh.

"Dammit, Hachi," he roared stomping out from around the rock, "If you drop her, I swear by all that is holy, I will _end you!_"


	3. Chapter 3: Week Twelve

**Title:** Bun in the Bakery, Chapter Three - Week Twelve  
**Series:** Bleach  
**Rating:** R  
**Warnings:** het (IchiHime), pregnancy  
**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. This will probably (never) be updated weekly, until I eventually drop it like every other project ever. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

* * *

The probe was cold as it slid across Orihime's exposed skin, the gel the doctor had slathered on there dropping the temperature even further. The metal, combined with the gel and the cool air in the doctor's office and the early autumn chill outside almost had her chattering her teeth.

She would just have to grin and bear it, though. Today was a super-special day. Today was the day she would see her baby for the very first time.

As the doctor moved the probe over her skin, Orihime kept her eyes glued to the monitor it fed images to. Finally, a simple picture presented itself to them.

"Here's the umbilical cord," the doctor pointed out on the monitor, motioning to the most visible part of the picture. It was a solid line that Orihime recognized as the beginnings of the anchor that would connect her to her baby. And at the end of that, was a tiny figure, just barely visible, with an even harder-to-see semi-circle beside it and a thin line around it.

"And here's the baby," the doctor said mildly, pointing out the tiny, curled up figure, "And what's left of the yolk sac. This circle is the chorion. That's what's going to become the placenta." Orihime's eyes widened as she took it all in.

"It's so tiny!" she finally breathed in awe, watching the sonar picture flutter on the monitor, "Can I have a print out to show my husband?"

"Of course."

* * *

As Orihime left the doctor's office, sonogram prints in hand, she smiled to herself. The pictures were grainy and gray, and the baby was so tiny one might miss it if one didn't know what they were looking for, but it was still their baby's first picture. Ichigo was sure to see this and fall in love with the baby all over again!

At that thought, Orihime's smile faded just a bit. Ever since her birthday party last month, Ichigo had been less enthusiastic whenever the subject of the baby was brought up. If she was completely honest with herself, she might say he'd been distant in general, maybe even downright cold. As she waded her way through bouts of morning sickness and fatigue, she often felt like she was going it alone. She knew deep down that Ichigo hadn't stopped caring, but it was hard to remember sometimes when she couldn't even keep down soup.

She was sure this was just temporary, though. That's what the books and pregnancy blogs she'd read had told her. Sometimes new fathers just needed some time to adjust to things like morning sickness and lots of crying and the idea of a new baby in the house.

Still, it seemed funny to her. Ichigo had been so excited when she first told him the news - overjoyed, even! Up until six weeks ago, he'd done everything for the baby with her. But even on the way home from the party that night, he hadn't wanted to talk as much. Sure, he still tried to put on a smile for her, but even that stopped after a while.

Now, six weeks later, Orihime had undergone the difficult task of finding a doctor mostly by herself. True, most husbands didn't overly concern themselves with things like that, but she had expected Ichigo to at least have some input. Instead, after she'd spent three weeks of searching and deciding on her own, he finally begrudgingly suggested that she use Ishida's family's hospital. It was modern and well-furnished and Ichigo had noted that if anything happened to her or the baby, he could personally choke the director's son. Orihime suspected that last bit was the deciding factor for him.

So that was that, and now she was headed to Isshin's clinic to show him his grandchild's first pictures, as requested. However little enthusiasm Ichigo had shown over the past month and a half, Isshin was exactly the opposite. He insisted on weekly visits from Orihime, which she had become accustomed to anyway between Yuzu working for her and Isshin's usual jovial nature. Now, however, it seemed a bit more taxing. It wasn't that she didn't want to go over; on the contrary, she loved spending time with Isshin and Karin. But between the nausea and the general sleepiness, it had been hard for her to stay awake long enough to take the bus over there. One eventful day, she'd even fallen asleep and ended up on the other side of town by accident. Ichigo had nearly worried himself into a fit that day.

But she was feeling a bit better today - energized, even! She didn't even nod off once today on the ride to the hospital and she still felt full of energy. Maybe a little cold from the chilly October air, but that was to be expected.

"Come on, little fella," she murmured down to her stomach, placing a protective hand over the barely noticeable lump under her shirt, "Now that you're not stealing all my energy anymore, let's go see grandpa!"

* * *

"Ahhh, that's him, huh?"

Orihime pouted cutely at her father-in-law.

"We don't know if it's a boy yet," she corrected. Secretly, she was hoping for a cute little girl for their first child, although she knew Isshin's (and Ichigo's) opinions on the matter differed.

"Sorry, sorry!" Isshin apologized, waving the sonogram lightly, "But they look like they're developing just fine. I even think I can see that trademarked Kurosaki face!"

"The "trademarked Kurosaki face' looks like a shrimp larvae?" Karin asked, peering over Isshin's shoulder to look at the picture, "I can barely even see them, old man." Isshin looked a bit disgruntled at his black-haired daughter's assessment.

"My first grandchild does not look like a prawn!" he sniffed in indignation. Orihime giggled, her earlier pique forgotten.

"But it does!" Orihime said, pointing at the tiny figure in the picture, "A tiny, tiny shrimp! Or a grub worm! Or an alien larvae that's trying to take over its host!" Karin laughed and shook her head, content to go about her business of restocking cabinets in the office while Orihime and Isshin had one of their usual bizarre conversations.

"Hmm," Isshin said thoughtfully, "In that case, we might want to take it out before it takes you over completely, right?" He winked, pointing his fingers like a gun at Orihime's tummy.

"No!" she exclaimed, protecting her abdomen with her arms, "It'll come out on its own once it's big enough!" She wasn't born yesterday; she knew what the older man was up to.

"Looks like we'll just have to tickle it out!" Isshin happily exclaimed, diving for Orihime. She was a bit faster than him, though, and sprang up with a squeak. She escaped not a second too soon, too, as Karin had appeared behind her father to drop him with a solid fist to the back of the head.

"What have I told you about that?" she groused, sounding a lot like her older brother, "She's not five, old man! That's totally inappropriate! Damn!" At this, Isshin had taken to pouting.

"Do you see this, Orihime-chan?" he whined, nursing the growing lump on his head, "This is what parents have to look forward to!" Orihime just laughed, taking her seat again.

"I think it's cute!"

* * *

"It's true! I saw it on Kamen Rider! That's exactly what it feels like!"

The petite, black-haired woman stared quizzically at her wildly gesticulating, red-haired companion. Orihime hadn't seen Rukia in over a month, and already she could tell she had lost the shinigami.

"But... how do you know what having your reiatsu drained by aliens feels like?" she asked, arching one fine eyebrow as she took another sip of her coffee. It was a drink that Orihime herself had introduced her to several years ago, and they had made it a ritual to go out to a cafe at least once a month ever since.

"Not reiatsu!" Orihime corrected her, "_Life force!_ It's totally different!" Orihime's serious tone of voice caused Rukia's slightly perplexed look to deepen into utter confusion.

"What's... the difference?" the smaller woman asked. Orihime looked thoughtful for a second.

"Well, I mean," she spoke her thoughts as they occurred to her, "You can still live without reiatsu, right? Life force is... It's... it's what keeps you alive! Like when I heal someone, their reiatsu doesn't come back right away, but they still have their life force!" Orihime imagined a small light bulb going off above Rukia's head as her face lit up with understanding.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "So it's like energy!" Orihime nodded vigorously.

"Uhn, that's it!" she cried happily, "It feels like it's being drained, like in the tokusatsu shows!" Rukia tilted her head to the side at this, deep in thought.

"Why don't you just drink coffee?" she asked, "It's a restorative, is it not?" Orihime looked sheepishly at the cappuccino in her cup.

"I'm not supposed to have too much caffeine," she murmured, "Tatsuki-chan gets upset and says it's bad for the baby and that I should be more careful of what I eat now." Rukia looked concerned.

"Is it?"

"Eh heh, not if I only have a little!" Orihime quickly explained, "All it really does is make me pee a lot!" Rukia blushed as her companion giggled nervously.

"Well, I don't think once a month should hurt," Rukia acknowledged slowly, taking a sip from her own cup.

"Exactly!" Orihime chirped in return, "Oh! I almost forgot! Do you want to see the pictures?" Rukia looked perplexed again.

"Of what?"

"Of the baby, silly!" Orihime said, gleefully pulling the sonograms out of their folder and sliding them across the table to Rukia. She picked them up curiously.

"How did you get pictures of it before it's been born?" she asked in wonder, "I don't think even Twelfth Division can do that!" She turned the picture this way and that, trying to figure out the proper way to look at it.

"Doctors can look inside your belly with sonar waves!" Orihime said in a hushed tone, as though imparting the secrets of the universe to her friend, "It's really cool! Although I wish it used more colors on the display! It would be nice if it looked like the pictures in the books I got!" Rukia looked skeptical.

"Why does it look like a... a magatama?" Orihime laughed.

"Karin-chan said it looked like a shrimp!" she said gleefully. Rukia's face lit up in recognition.

"Hooh!" she exclaimed, "It does look like a shrimp! But why doesn't it look like a baby?" Orihime smiled as she took the pictures back from Rukia.

"It still has to grow!" she said gently, "It'll look more like a baby in a few more months. And then we'll even find out if it's a boy or a girl!" This was also foreign to Rukia.

"They can tell that?" she asked, amazed, "With the... with the pictures?" Orihime took a small sip of her cappuccino and grinned.

"Yep!" she chirped, "They'll even be able to see it move and everything!" Rukia looked utterly fascinated.

"It's so rare for anyone to have a child in Soul Society," she observed, "I have never even heard of these things! I thought you just waited to see what it was until it was born!"

"They used to do it that way!" Orihime said with a nod, "But now we have better technology!" Rukia nodded in fascination.

"And Ichigo?" she asked, "Has he seen the picture yet?" At this, Orihime looked sheepishly off to the side.

"Not... not yet," she admitted with a nervous smile, "He umm... doesn't seem that interested anymore." She winced as soon as she said it. It hurt to hear, and sounded just awful when she said it like that. The look on Rukia's face reflected her sympathy.

"Not that interested?" she parroted back, "Ichigo? I'd have thought he would be smothering you by now." To be honest, Orihime had, too.

"No," she said regretfully, "He's been kind of quiet and distant since my birthday... Oh, Rukia-chan, you don't think... You don't think he doesn't want the baby, do you?" Rukia looked stunned, to say the least, as though she hadn't quite reached that point in her logic yet.

"Let us not be hasty," she said, patting her frightened friend's hand, "This is Ichigo we're talking about here. He probably just has something on his mind." Orihime looked at Rukia, wide-eyed, taking in her words.

"O-Oh..." she said quietly, "I guess you're right... M-Maybe I'm worried over nothing..."

"Perhaps you should talk to him about it," Rukia suggested gently, "At the least, it couldn't hurt." Orihime nodded her understanding. Ichigo did have a tendency to hide what was bothering him, so the only way she was likely to find out just why he was being so quiet was to ask him.

"Thanks, Rukia-chan," she finally said with a smile, "I'll do that."

* * *

"Thanks, Dad."

Ichigo sighed as he hung up the phone. His father had called him to let him know how his visit with Orihime had gone. She'd been to see him once a week for the past six weeks, and every time she visited, Isshin would call to let his son know how it had gone.

This week was the same as any other. Her reiatsu was similar to what his mother's had been at this stage in both her pregnancies. Since she was all Isshin had to compare Orihime to, that was the baseline they'd had to use. Ichigo was loathe to bring it up, but it aggravated his already raw nerves.

Isshin had looked over the notes she'd brought over from her new obstetrician. Physically, everything was perking along just fine, too. Outside of the morning sickness, which had been waning in the past week or so, she appeared to be perfectly alright. She'd even dodged Isshin's tickle attack.

So why didn't it stop Ichigo from worrying about her?

He figured a little bit of worry was normal. Even before his conversation with Urahara, he'd been as concerned as he thought any expectant father should be. But now, with the idea that the baby could be some kind of monster firmly entrenched in his mind, Ichigo's protective instincts had kicked into overdrive.

He leaned against his desk, cradling his head in his hands as his tired eyes drifted shut. He'd been sleeping poorly lately, in no small part because of his worries. His days at the editor's office weren't really doing much to get his mind off of things, either. There, he was mostly on autopilot, surviving on his gratuitous intake of coffee alone. His co-workers chalked his new-found inability to concentrate up to new dad jitters, so at least they didn't seem too worried.

Orihime, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely.

He could see how worried he was making her as each day passed. She'd been casting him longing, concerned looks for at least a couple of weeks now. A few times, he even thought he'd caught her crying. He knew withdrawing from her wasn't fair and that she was dealing with a lot of things on her own right now, and that made him feel even worse about it. But the fact remained that he didn't have the first idea of how to approach this topic with her.

To make matters worse, his hollow was restless again. He'd been calm and content for several years now, only piping up when he felt it absolutely necessary. Ichigo was sure this was in part due to Orihime's influence in his life. Being married and being in direct contact with her boundless optimism and sunny attitude for so long had mellowed him from a sulky, scowling teenager to a decently well-adjusted, if somewhat serious man.

But this latest stress had caused his old alter ego to start rearing his head again. So far, he'd limited his restlessness to prowling at the corners of Ichigo's mind, offering a stray comment here or there. After so many years of peace and quiet, it was disconcerting to start hearing that distorted, watery voice so often again. And while Ichigo wasn't afraid in the least that his hollow could overpower him and worm his way out, he knew well enough that whenever that thing got restless, it was never good news.

'_**Just talk to her, Ichigo,**_' his distorted voice echoed through Ichigo's head, as if on cue, '_**I'm sick of this crappy weather, and I'm sick of us not getting any. We should be getting laid **_**more**_** now that she's pregnant, not **_**less.**'

Ichigo's mouth pulled into a thin line at this brilliant observation. Leave it to his hollow to only focus on the _important_ things. Still, his latest nugget of wisdom underlined something else that bothered Ichigo. The hollow had always been territorial about Orihime, for lack of a better word; sometimes violently and destructively so. But adding a baby to the mix had already made it worse. The hollow was very clear on the point that he already regarded whatever was growing inside of Orihime as their young. If worse came to worse and things turned out badly, Ichigo was already doubtful he could entirely restrain him from fighting off anyone that tried to touch the baby.

Hell, who knew? He wouldn't even be surprised if the hollow _wanted_ the baby to be just like him. Ichigo stopped that train of thought short, though; that would say some pretty fucked up things about _him_, if that was the case.

_'Your opinion is duly noted,'_ he finally thought back dryly. He heard the hollow snort once before laying back down again.

In the past few weeks, Ichigo had seriously considered getting help. But who could he go to? Urahara, Shinji, and Hiyori had all already made their opinions on the matter known. It was easy for them to be hard-asses over it, Ichigo had bitterly realized. It wasn't _their_ wife and baby's well-being on the line. He'd briefly considered talking to some of the other Vizards, but he wasn't that close with Hachi, Love, or Rose personally, Mashiro didn't seem like she'd be much help at all, and he was sure Lisa and Kensei would share Shinji and Hiyori's sentiments anyhow. If they all didn't already, anyway.

Everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by bad propositions. At least he knew he could count on his dad, but if push came to shove, would he be enough?

"Ichigo-kun...?"

Ichigo's head shot up. When had Orihime gotten back? He'd been so wrapped up with his morose thoughts that he hadn't even heard her come in. She was still by the front door, from the sounds of her voice, but he knew she'd sniff him out soon enough.

"I'm at my desk," he responded gruffly. As soon as the words left him, he knew he'd sounded harsher than he'd intended. He swore inwardly; she probably thought he was angry with her.

"O-Oh."

Scratch that; she _definitely_ thought he was mad at her.

"Hime," he called firmly, "Come here."

He heard soft, stockinged footsteps pad across the floor to the spare room they'd converted into an office. Finally, Orihime appeared in the door frame looking abashed and holding a manila folder. She looked shyly at him from beneath her long bangs, still held back by her blue fairy hairpins. Even after all these years, she refused to part with them.

"It's... kind of dark in here, sweety," she said softly. Nervously, too, Ichigo realized with a pang of guilt.

"I had a little headache," he reassured her. He was forcing a bit of warmth into his voice, even though he was sure it wouldn't fool her in the least. She could always tell when he did that; it made lying to her damn well near impossible, Ichigo noted with a wry smirk. After ten years together, it was a wonder he could hide anything from her anymore.

Before he could continue, she was bent over him, fussing with his forehead. Having her so close, enveloping him in her warm scent was comforting, even against Ichigo's better, more worrisome instincts. He felt the hollow stir inside him again; he liked the way she smelled now, apparently. It was maternal, fertile. Ichigo didn't want to know how he knew that.

"Do you need a cold compress?" she asked gently, "Or some aspirin? Or I could use Shun'o and Ayame?" Ichigo had gotten so distracted by her that he barely registered what she was saying. Instead, he pulled her into his lap, making her squeak. He then folded her against his chest into a hug.

"I'm fine," he muttered into her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"Ichigo-kun?"

He recognized that tone. It was searching, confused. She probably didn't understand why he'd been so distant for the past month or so, or why he was suddenly clinging to her for dear life. But it was times like these that reminded Ichigo of just how much he needed his wife.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, tangling his fingers in her long hair. Orihime tilted her head up to give him a quizzical look.

"What for?" she asked, obviously taken aback by the random heartfelt apology. Ichigo could see the genuine confusion shining in her eyes. He gave her a small kiss on the forehead before continuing.

"I've been a jackass to you for the past few weeks," he said, drawing her back into a hug, "I've just been so worried about this baby that I don't know what to do." Orihime rested her head against his chest, listening for his heartbeat.

"Worried about what?" she replied softly, "Everything's going fine." Ichigo's fingers twitched against her back.

"What if it's... What if it's like me? The baby, I mean." His voice was almost cracking and he was holding Orihime tighter than ever. Just voicing the thought aloud almost seemed like a curse.

But Orihime, gentle, sweet Orihime, simply put her hands on either cheek and turned his face so that she was looking him in the eye. But why would she smile about something like that? Didn't she understand just how bad that could be?

"If the baby is just like you, I'd be the happiest mother in the world," she murmured, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in shock, "But I think you're talking about your hollow, right?" Ichigo nodded numbly, wondering how she could be so calm about this.

"It's alright," she assured him, her eyelids lowering, "If that was going to happen, I'd feel it, right? In my tummy..."

"I don't know," he whispered doubtfully, "Do you... Do you feel it right now?" That was the first time he'd heard anything like that. Orihime simply smiled.

"I think so," she said quietly, "It's almost so tiny I could miss it, though, so maybe it's my imagination. But everything's like I read it should be so far." Ichigo visibly deflated as he exhaled.

"You know I can't help worrying about you," he murmured, "Damn, I'm... being stupid, aren't I?" This earned him a kiss on the cheek in reproach.

"No, you're not," Orihime corrected him, "But I'm a big girl, too, so you should let me worry a little instead of doing all the worrying yourself next time." The corners of Ichigo's mouth tugged up a little in response.

"Alright, I get it," he said, a hint of amusement teasing his tired voice before taking on a concerned note, "In that case, you should know... I've been hearing him again." Orihime's little mouth turned down in a small frown.

"Your hollow?" she asked quietly, "He's not giving you trouble, is he? Do you want to go see Hirako-kun?" Now it was Ichigo's turn to frown.

_"No,_" he said quickly and firmly, "He's just being overprotective. He thinks he's on Carnivore Kingdom and has cubs in the den or something." Orihime's frown melted into confusion for a moment before quickly turning into a smile.

"He's territorial!" she finally said happily before leveling a serious look straight at Ichigo's chest, "Stop giving Ichigo-kun trouble, Hollow-san. He can protect his mate and his cub just fine!" Ichigo heard a playful growl in the back of his head. Taking the cue, he leaned over to give Orihime a light nibble on the side of the neck. She squealed with delight in response.

"Who's gonna save you from me, though?" he asked, feigning seriousness. He couldn't maintain any kind of seriousness with his wife squirming in his lap like that, though. "You keep wiggling like that and I'll give you something to be afraid of."

"Oh!" Orihime gasped suddenly, pushing away from him, "Not yet! I wanted to show you the pictures first!" Ichigo blinked, his intentions momentarily put on hold.

"The ultrasound?" he asked, watching as Orihime placed the folder she'd been holding on his desk and turned the lamp on. She flipped it open and pulled out a grainy, black and gray print-out.

"Uhn!" she responded with a nod, "Here they are! Aren't they cute?" Ichigo squinted at the picture.

"It... looks like a shrimp," he said doubtfully, "Are you sure you didn't just eat too much seafood?" Orihime giggled at his goofy question. Ichigo just wondered how much longer he had until he turned into his dad entirely.

Still, he couldn't stop staring at the little unblinking creature in the picture. Up until now, the baby had been some vague little thing for him, existing only so far as the general direction of Orihime's still-flat stomach. He hadn't had to deal with the fatigue or nausea or the constant questions and conversations about the baby like Orihime had. But now, here it was - a tiny, curled up thing with discernible hands and feet, right in front of him in a photograph. It was real, and even though it still didn't look entirely human, it was his. His baby.

That knowledge made Ichigo feel like his heart was melting. Even though right now he couldn't see any distinguishing features, he knew that slowly, this baby would grow to take on the characteristics of its parents. It would look like them, sound like them. The child's future stretched out before his imagination, bright and cheerful, a little kid with orange hair just like his waving back at him.

It was official; he was in love with this baby. And he'd do anything to make sure they stayed safe.

As Ichigo wandered in thought, Orihime took his large, warm hand and gave him a gentle smile. He looked up with a start when she began sliding it under her shirt.

"Orihime?" he asked, "What are you up to?" He knew he'd been neglecting her lately, but she usually wasn't so forward right off the bat.

"Feel," she instructed him, moving the palm of his hand along the small swell just beneath the hemline of her skirt, "The doctor showed me at my visit today. You can feel it! It's like a little grapefruit already!"

Ichigo blinked in surprise. He pressed against her soft stomach until he could feel the hard swelling of her womb beneath. Up until now, he hadn't noticed what little bit of weight she'd gained, but here it was, right beneath his hand. It was the first physical sign he'd felt that there was a baby in there somewhere.

"So you ate a grapefruit that had a shrimp in it," he said, a wry grin tugging at the side of his mouth, "Why does that not surprise me?" Orihime gave him one of her adorable pouts.

"Ichigo-kun," she mock-scolded, "You know I only eat lemon on my shrimp!"


End file.
